Strike closes Paris' Pompidou for 5th straight day

PARIS - PARIS (AP) - The Pompidou Center, the celebrated Paris modern art museum, is closed for a fifth straight day because of a strike by personnel angry over possible staff cuts.

A press officer says the strikers vote each morning on whether to stay off the job, so it wasn't immediately clear Friday whether the museum would open over the weekend or next week. The officer asked not to be named in accordance with museum policy.

Strikers are upset about a government policy not to replace half of retiring public servants. They contend that cost-cutting measures would disproportionately affect the Pompidou, where 40 percent of employees are 50 or older.

A wide swath of employees, including security guards and white collar workers, are striking.